Adding up the cost of your Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about buying all that food.

Some new numbers released Wednesday by the United States Farm Bureau show the average Thanksgiving dinner will cost 28 cents more than it did last year.

We took a turkey trot to the grocery store and found some bargains that’ll have shoppers spending less than they did in 2011.

Broulim’s is gearing up for the year’s most gastric celebration.

“The week before Thanksgiving is the busiest time for us,” said Daryl James, the assistant manager for the Rigby Broulim’s.

While the rising cost of groceries has been weighing heavily on everyone’s minds and wallets, grocers don’t want high prices crashing anyone’s holiday party.

“We shop the deals we can. We buy truckloads to keep our costs down,” James said. “We are the same price as we were last year!”

That said, our news team went on a fact-finding mission.

At 88 cents per pound, turkey is cheaper at Broulim’s than it was last year.

At the end of the Broulim’s shopping trip, we had an 11-pound turkey, plus sides and a pre-made dessert.

The total was $33.38 to feed about six people, before tax.

Compared to a national chain, the total came to $32.78 for about the same amount of the same food at Walmart.

It’s close game, keeping in mind that Walmart had lower prices, but also smaller quantities than Broulim’s.

For instance, for 2 cents more, Broulim’s packs an extra 5 pounds of potatoes.

While the big box retailer is able to sell cheaper pies and some packaged foods, Broulim’s produce is generally less expensive.

Turkey at both stores costs the same.

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Here is our full shopping list:

Turkey – 88 cents/lb. at Broulim’s and Walmart
Gravy (pouch) – 99 cents at Broulim’s, 50 cents at Walmart Yams – 45 cents/lb. at Broulims, 79 cents/lb. at Walmart Marshmallows – $1.49 at Broulim’s, $1.25 at Walmart Raw potatoes – $1.99/15 lbs. at Broulim’s, $1.97/10 lbs. at Walmart (or) Mashed potatoes – $3.00/26.2 oz. at Broulim’s, $2.50/12.2 oz. at Walmart Green beans – 2 cans for $1.00 at Broulim’s, 69 cents per can at Walmart Fried onions – $3.19 at Broulim’s, $2.98 at Walmart Cranberry sauce – 79 cents at Broulim’s, $1.50 at Walmart Stuffing mix – 99 cents for 6 oz. at Broulim’s, $1.88 for 10 oz. at Walmart Carrots – $1.49 for 2 lbs. at Broulim’s, 96 cents for 2 lbs. Broulim’s Celery – 45 cents at Broulim’s, $1.58 at Walmart Rolls – $2.99 for 12 at Broulim’s, $2.00 for 8 at Walmart Pumpkin pie – $5.99 at Broulim’s, $2.98 at Walmart